Alienware to slow?

I just ordered an alienware notebook while i am gone for work and class and what not. These guys are crazy. It takes around 15days to get your notebook. That is crazy. I will list the steps on the website. I give them props for being so "caring" and what not, because that is why i ordered from the, the support & warranty but give me a break. ~11days to put a notebook together is crazy.

Phase 1: (Order Received)
Your order has been received and is awaiting verification before processing. All online orders must be verified before they can be processed as part of our security procedures.

Phase 2: (Awaiting Payment Processing)
Your order has been verified and is awaiting payment processing. While in this stage we are confirming any credit card and/or payment information for security purposes. Please understand that this phase is necessary as it will protect you the customer from any fraudulent transactions. We observe very strict security guidelines and hope you can appreciate our efforts.

Phase 3: (Payment Received)
Your order has been processed and is currently awaiting the configuration (component) verification phase.

Phase 4: (Configuration Verification Phase)
We are checking your system configuration before we reserve all the necessary components that make up your system. Even though this process already took place when you initially placed the order, we make sure to recheck our real-time knowledge base for any possible conflicts with drivers and/or components.

Phase 5: (Pre-Production Inventory Queue phase)
Your system is now in queue and awaiting inventory inspection and audit.

Phase 6: (Inventory Audit)
The inventory that will be used to custom build your PC has now been inspected. Please be aware that a back-order situation might or might not exist in this phase. If a back-order situation does exist, it should not impede your order's progress.

Phase 7: (Materials Inspection)
All accessories such as Manuals (if applicable), CDs, cables, etc., that are included with your system have now been inspected.

Phase 8: (Pre Assembly)
Your system is now in queue and waiting to be assembled, integrated and inspected by quality assurance.

Phase 9: (Production: Assembly & Integration)
Your system is being hand-built by an Alienware® Assembly Technician. We take great pride in building our systems, as our motto reflects, "build it as if it were your own". The assembly stage can take some time as all the cabling in the machine is carefully installed and the results are greater upgrade flexibility and thermal airflows. Every assembly technician has been trained and qualified to Alienware Standards. We pride ourselves on not only giving you a high performance computer system, but a piece of art!

Phase 10: (Production: Phase #1)
Your system is undergoing the first stage of the Alienware® 200-point quality control process. This stage includes the installation of the operating system, drivers and any applications that are specific to the system you ordered. Our Alienware® Integration Technician will also install any demos, benchmark utilities, and burn-in software necessary to correctly monitor your system’s performance. These functions are performed by AlienFactory, a proprietary software designed by Alienware for our valued customers.

Phase 11: (Production: Phase #2)
Your system is undergoing the second stage of the Alienware® 200-point quality control process. This is the most crucial stage. We perform a series of grueling tests that push the hardware components in your system to the very limit. This phase is especially important because it is here where the system either passes or fails. If it does fail, it will automatically go to one of our diagnostic technicians to identify and correct any problems before we ship it to you. If the system doesn't pass our performance metrics, we will build it again from the beginning. Perfection takes time!

Phase 12: (Production: Quality Control)
Your system is undergoing the final stage of the Alienware® 200-point quality control process. An Alienware® Quality Inspector is in charge of inspecting your machine from top to bottom for any obvious or latent defects. Our Inspectors are seasoned technicians/engineers and are very experienced in the art of perfection.

Phase 13: (Production: Shipping)
Your system is being carefully packed for shipping.

Phase 14: (Order Shipped)
Congratulations, your order has been shipped. We only hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed building it for you.

I had an Alienware PC once, and let me tell you, they aren't a great value. The reason why it takes so long is because their machines are VERY custom. That timeframe is an estimate, and mine didn't take the full time. From experience, it hangs at Phase 4 for almost a week. The rest only takes 2-3 days. Once it advances past Phase 4, you get e-mails nightly to update you on the order status. Customer Service from them is good, but I wasn't impressed with the machine I ordered. It ran exceptionally hot, and I wasn't overall impressed with the benchmarks I ran either.

After dealing with apple and friend dealing with dell i decided with alienware. The price is more but the way lady mooo made me see was that notebooks are a huge investment so might as well go with the best for it. I hope it comes in by the 21st for a great bday present

After dealing with apple and friend dealing with dell i decided with alienware. The price is more but the way lady mooo made me see was that notebooks are a huge investment so might as well go with the best for it. I hope it comes in by the 21st for a great bday present

Click to expand...

They are good quality, don't get me wrong, just expensive. You pay for the name, which is the same for any computer or laptop.

na p4, i wanted amd64, but they don't offer them
i was looking at www.xoticepc.com to build them but friend works for a place that builds linux notebooks and said they use the same kind of case and they were really poorly made.

That is the drawback on laptops, you can't build them yourselves. Anoter good point brought up by you, Alienware doesn't offer everything that is out there. When I got my PC, I wanted Water Cooling, which they didn't at that time do. They do now, but oh well

MaximumPC had a good article on desktop replacement laptops. Of course the 51m and XPS took the prize. But the new 51m runs too hot and is too bulky so they gave XPS the highest rating of the two. However, neither one of them won the Kick Ass award.

Dell Laptops are the best selling ones out there .. I was looking at a Toshiba sattellite before I bought my dell desktop. I didn't get it though. Mostly because I had no need for a laptop at the time. Those Toshibas are sweet I tell you ..

Of course, my personal opion about alienware is they are over priced and over hyped .. To each there own though. I am just glad people who know how to turn a pc on are also buying them. It makes me laugh when someone who never owned a pc spends 5,000.00 on one. It then takes them two years to figure out where the start button is lol ..

Of course, my personal opion about alienware is they are over priced and over hyped .. To each there own though. I am just glad people who know how to turn a pc on are also buying them. It makes me laugh when someone who never owned a pc spends 5,000.00 on one. It then takes them two years to figure out where the start button is lol ..

Click to expand...

Where do you come up with these opinions? Seriously. The whole idea behind Alienware is a custom built machine with a lot of speed and power.

Over priced? Not for what you get. You should read benchmarks on AW systems and then make that assumption.

Over hyped? Have you owned one?

Even though I've moved onto other brands I am still a huge proponent of Alienware and what they are doing.

Apple, Dell, Sony and Toshiba make great products. There are other lines out there but the fallacy of thinking that keeps Alienware in business is because they charge the most, they are the best.

No company has the same product support as Dell does and Sony has some of the best looking stuff out there. Toshiba makes some bloody durable notebooks. Heck even the Panasonic "Tough Book" lineup is brilliant

The most powerful notebook out there is the XPS Gen 2 from Dell. Others have come later to the market with their products, Dell has had the best from day 1 of the 6800go Ultra launch.

wrt build times. It can take a while to build a notebook from scratch especially if you do not have an inventory of the items at the time the product order is placed, i.e with Dell. 15 days is a long time but depends on the parts availability.

Prime area of difference with Alienware's policy is some companies do not actually charge the card (or take money out) till the product physically ships. I would have thought they would do the same as the others.